How to Play "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds (Part 1)

[ilovepjysomuch]

My hands and wrists hurt so badly. But this is a great tutorial.

[jaytagle]

Very Nice of you sir!:-) Thank you very much for this!!!

[TimsWheelbarrow]

Thanks for the awesome tutorial. Have just started learning the piano and this have worked through this one bar by bar, and it is definitely very well put together.

On the bass run in the third bar, F# C# F# A F#, I actually think the fingering is a lot cleaner if you use your thumb on the A, seeing as you'll be hitting the A with that thumb in the next passage anyway. Maybe it's just that my fingers have not quite figured out what they are doing yet though.

Great video!

[soccersam1033]

AWESOME. BUT PLEASE PUT UP A TUTORIAL FOR STILL FIGHTING IT. I CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!

[dannyd1572]

This is great! I'm learning a lot. Do you take requests? Think you could teach us Oh No by the Commodores?

[dannyd1572]

Thanks! I've played this over and over and have learned a good portion of it tonight. All musicians were given a talent and we all should share our knowledge of it and pass it on to others just like the gift it was given to us. Thanks for posting!

[cisco1225]

at a quick glance this tutorial looks great. I'm definitely going to try to learn this next. Thanks ahead of time. I know how much effort it takes to make tutorials...

[piratessfifi]

Wow. This song is so beautiful. And now I can play it for myself! Amazing, thank you.

[1rednotebOok]

awsome job dude. major props to the whole video. it helped me out tons

[ardi1230320]

Maybe you could notate this? It would be appreciated very much

[michellelynnmcisaac]

Thank you so much!! I love this song!!! :)

[Listentoelias]

Nice teaching! and great song =)

[kouthoops21]

knocked this part down in half hour, thanks!

[15cstraight]

WOW thanks dude, this helped me a lot! I'm 13 and my sister told me to learn this so thanks!

[philipa9876]

this is the fist song ive ever learned how 2 play and its going pretty well except 4 the simultaneous thing at the begining. thanks a lot for uploading!

[murphyman3]

Such a great song, glad you posted it. Unfortuneately I'll need a little more experience, but I like the way you fought this. 5/5

[Mervien]

@aconk99 classy.. probably the most awesome guy on the planet.. you shold be proud of your classiness.. well done douchebag

[aconk99]

[pumping my fist]

[beedzfurmi]

you're awesome

[AlmostNearlyAZN]

i suck at this so far, but the more times i watch the better i get

THANK YOU~~!

[jasinski7]

wat is the time singurature to this song

[finallyanunusedname2]

Where can I buy sheet music? (Songs for Silverman)

[mrsgerardwayxx6]

thanks!

love this song!

[andrewsius]

Missclicked 4/5 stars... I am sooo sorry :( this totally deserves 6/5... (subscribed tho).. :)

Thanks for awsome video!

[heatherxwar]

thanks soo much! you were an awesome teacher!!

[AnarchyBefallUs]

Absolutely wonderful help. Thanks so much! :)

[godfather01111]

i Need help at 3:50 PLEASE

[nowandforever117]

you'll get it i had problems with it too

[beekoboyy]

Awesome job man! I can't play nearly as well but I did learn the song lol thanks!

[omgcharolettebak]

your my new favorite

[feeke22]

great job man! I have that same piano its quality

[Scallywag90]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

[wuhbang]

Thanks so much for the tutorial! Do you have sheet music for this, by any chance? :)

[bermicmon]

Thank you for this tut :D

[jstricklandla]

Anyone know where to get the sheet music for the arrangment this guy is playing? Sounds incredible.

[Zellor86]

nice nice - i will start learning it this night! thanks so far and please consider making a tutorial video for Fred Jones pt.2 - I'm stuck there :)

[musiclover611]

yesss i want to learn that too!! i love that song!

[AnarchyBefallUs]

Same! These two songs are by far my favorite!

[TheMonkeyTookMyHat]

thanks very much for taking the time to make this tutorial. such a beautiful song, but very difficult to learn. this video was very helpful.

[amyt1707]

How long have you played piano?

I took lessons for a year and got fairly good at it but haven't practiced in almost 2 and I'm having a really hard time getting this song down...(mostly those tricky parts) it's frustrating, and I'm disappointed  in myself... -.-

[elliottisacoolname]

thanks for making this, its been really helpful!

i was wondering where you got your sheet music for this? i downloaded it off the internet and have noticed quite a few differences in the notes in just the introduction.. so i was pretty confused

[Driminem]

Wow, this is amazing. Can you do a tutorial for Landed?

[JeeYaoKuneDo]

Could you perhaps take the time someday to make a tutorial for "Still Fighting It"? I can't believe there are none out there... :(

[SeWonFeldsott]

As I have told others, I am currently preoccupied with school work among other things and and don't have a whole lot of time to learn new songs. Once I start learning new songs again I will definitely take your request into consideration. :)

[lambertl08]

You are my hero!

[duogelbing]

awesome :)

[RockyBrody]

Do you think you can do a tutorial for- Five For Fighting's- 100 Years? All the other tutorials out there are awful.

Thanks.

[SeWonFeldsott]

I have been wanting to learn this song for awhile now but unfortunately have hit a rut with practicing piano due to school and other hobbies of mine. It'll be near the top of my list and hopefully once I get the piano ball rolling again they'll start coming out like baby rabbits.

[RockyBrody]

About 2 weeks ago I stumbled across your tutorial while trying to plan a gift for my husband for our 16th anniversary using the song "The Luckiest".Last night, after coming home from dinner we entered our front door and walked through a path of lit candles from door to piano where I played and serenaded him. He was in shock(I haven't played piano seriously in years)and told me that it was the best gift he ever got. So I thank you so much for teaching me, and I hope to learn more songs from you.

[SeWonFeldsott]

And that alone makes doing this whole thing more than worth it :)

[Irdaddy25]

beautiful.... easy to learn the way you explain it! Love it, thanks!

[flaminpoopbagz]

the best tutorial i have ever seen, i went into this like: damn.. not more tutorial hunting...

but this explained everything step by step and made it simple to understand without actually having to read any kind of music(yay! im a drummer it bores me to death):) so awesome job

[Doritji]

man ! i wish i discovered this earlier !! thanks for giving the ones that don't know how to read music notes a great oppurtunity to still learn great songs !

[jenfolds5]

absolutely amazing!!

[joshgranite]

I agree with spike.

thanks a lot

[spikejones2012]

best tutorial ever.....

EVER

[ka1torak]

Awesome job. If you could make a tutorial of "The Ascent of Stan" that would be AWESOME!

[hopeforrain]

Oh my god. You are seriously, like, my favorite person right now for posting this up. Ben Folds is AMAZING, and I've always wanted to play this song, but sadly, I play viola, and all I can read is alto clef. I've tried the others, but I seriously just cannot read them. Thank you so, so much for posting this up!!! I really appreciate it!

[chinesepug]

can you do selfless cold and composed and evaporated by ben folds.

[brittodo]

This is amazing and so helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to make such a great tutorial. I'm thinking about ordering the sheet music so I can follow along as I learn. I was wondering what version (as far as sheet music) you're using so I can get the same one? Thanks again for your help!

[SeWonFeldsott]

It's from some random geocities website that I found online. Unfortunately, I don't have it saved on my computer.

[Energis1337]

@ Jordyn. Dude that's awesome, you're gonna blow 'em away! Congratulations

[jtdfashodawg]

i dont play piano. and i can play this. amazing lesson. easily learned a tough song.

[Jordyn192]

Wanted to give you a big thank you. I'm getting married in August, and I've been playing drums for the last 13 years, and dabble on many other instruments. Yesterday I got a piano (finally)and I've already learned the intro to the song. I hope to be able to play the entire song by my wedding. I couldn't have even dreamed it possible without something like this. I'm very new to the piano world and learn much better by ear.The way you teach is perfect for me! Thank you : )

[SeWonFeldsott]

You're very welcome! You're the very reason why I put this kind of thing out there. Makes me feel good when I can help someone. Good luck learning it!

[w92yxw]

what are you doing with the sustain pedal? down the whole time? up before/after chord changes? It is also an electric piano so do you have an auto-reverb or sustain on (or any other effects for that matter)

[SeWonFeldsott]

Hi there,

I don't have any exact method for the pedal, my feet just do it to what feels/sounds right. But usually the best time to go up/down on the pedal is right before a chord change so you don't get any unwanted meshing of chords. But some chords sound find together. Just use your ear and when it starts sounding mushy, lift. I actually have to work on better pedal work myself so I may not be the best one to give advice about this. Thanks for your interest though!

[byrdo444]

thanks!

[byrdo444]

sweet man thanks :)

what program are you using to render?

(im a film major so maybe i can help)

[SeWonFeldsott]

thanks but i got it to work finally. my comp kept crashing and automatically restarting probably cuz overheat i'd imagine. i had my monitor resolution at 2560x1600 which i'd imagine takes a lot of juice from the computer to output. so i lowered the resolution while rendering and it went all the way through. by the way the 2nd part is up so get learning! i'll put up the rest of the song within a week's time in a couple parts. that's my goal anyway!

[byrdo444]

my longtime girlfriend is coming to see me for the first time in two months that i've been away from her... i would love to play her this song, but all i've learned is the intro. pleaaassseee post the second part! she comes in 11 days, im a fast learner, i just need someone to teach me

[SeWonFeldsott]

Hey byrdo,

I think that's really nice that you wanna play this song for your girl. And it may just be the kind of motivation I need to get the rest of the song out. I actually have the 2nd part ready, but i'm having problems rendering. Hopefully I can fix the problem quickly. It's probably gonna be at least a 4 part series though for the entire song. Fortunately I don't have any tests for awhile after tomorrow and it'll give me time to get the rest of the song done. I'll do my best!

[jmoney44haha]

Do you haft to play it on an electronic piano?

[SeWonFeldsott]

Yes, sorry that is all i have

[jmoney44haha]

ohh thats not what i was meaning.. it sounds somewhat different when i play it on my piano.. so i was wondering if it sounded better on electronic..

[MadChinaMan]

It could be that your piano needs to be tuned? Ben Folds Plays his version on a real Piano and sounds Fantastic so that's probably not it.

[SeWonFeldsott]

I got a test tomorrow (thursday) and will be busy all day thursday. But I will do the 2nd part on Friday or Saturday and I'll have it up by Saturday night latest. Just a headsup.

[MadChinaMan]

Ahhhhh! You're amazing for doing this! Thank You so Much!

[celletelle]

Thank you so much! PLEASE do a good job in pharmacotherapeutics so you have time to put the next section up!

[byrdo444]

THANK YOU!! i got the intro downnn, now i just need to learn the rest

[fabtabulousjo]

yay! thank you

can you do the rest? pleaseee

[byrdo444]

please do the next section!!!!?!?!??

btw this section was awesome thankyooouuu

[SeWonFeldsott]

Hey I know I've been putting this off and I promise I will try to do it within the next few days.

[w92yxw]

YAYYYYY

[bravosmane]

can't wait for parts 2 - ?....and I know some of the song is repetitive but could u show the transitions for each little section bc I seem to be able to play a lot of diff. songs by memory but never a whole song bc I don't know how to piece it together...best tutorial I've found on youtube so far by the way...thanks a lot

[CaseyCupid]

This is very helpful thank you so much=]

Can you put up how to learn the rest?!?!?!

This is a lovely song=]

[SeWonFeldsott]

I will be putting up the rest of the song in due time! Unfortunately, right now I have to study for an exam in Pharmacotherapeutics on Monday! Wish me luck!

[CaseyCupid]

I will be looking forward to it!

&& Good luckk=]

That sounds difficult!

[asabug5]

thankyou so much. You were so quick! when I saw this pop up on my subscriptions i was psyched!!! Keep it up and thanks again

[philafofalof]

Dude, this is perfect and is you've made it very simple to understand. Unfortuantly for me I taught my self this intro by watching your hands in your Luckiest Cover (Top View) so now I can't wait till the next part.

Also, in the first bar when you hit D B 9After you accidently said D B D) shoudlnt it be D with G then B?

[SeWonFeldsott]

Hi there! Thanks for the comment. Technically, note for note on the sheet music, yes,there is an extra G there on the left hand when you hit that D on the right hand. For some reason, when I learned it, it somehow got lost. So when I play it, I usually miss that one note, but according to the sheets, yes there is a simultaneous G there. Thanks for catching that!

[bravosmane]

does that also apply to the next measure? (Right hand E C# A...but when u hit that E u have an extra A with the left??..)

[SeWonFeldsott]

Bravosmane,

No there is no extra A in the 2nd measure as there is in the 1st measure. This is probably why I stopped doing the A in the 1st measure. It's just E-A-E on the left hand then E-C#-A on the right. Hope that clears it up.